The present invention relates to musical instruments and, more particularly, to an array keyboard controller. A major objective of the invention is to provide a flexible yet compact musical-instrument controller that permits convenient fingerings of common note combinations.
Developments in electronic music synthesis have open up a wide palette of new and intriguing timbres, as well as made it possible to emulate almost any acoustic instrument. However, controllers for accessing these new sounds have, for the most part, been limited to emulating acoustic instruments, with piano-style keyboards dominating synthesizer applications.
With rare exception, piano keyboards have 88 keys for playing a 7⅓ octave range. A vast quantity of music has been written for the 88-key piano. Understandably, 88-key synthesizer controllers are appealing as they allow access to this music, plus the ability to vary the timbre with which music is played. Pianos, of course, are not portable instruments, but some portable 88-key synthesizer controllers are available. Still they are heavier and more bulky than desired for those who would take their music with them.
Arranger keyboards are piano-style keyboards that use chord recognition in generating auto-accompaniment patterns. The most popular arranger keyboards have 61 keys, typically divided so that an about 1.5-octave lower range is used for chord recognition, while an about 3.5-octave upper range handles melody and other parts. While the available note range is more limited than that of a conventional keyboard, the patterns can include notes outside the nominal keyboard range, permitting the full piano-keyboard range to be sounded.
In addition, arranger keyboards often simplify the fingering of note combinations. For example, many arranger keyboards allow certain 3-note chords (typically major triads) to be triggered with one finger by hitting the root in the chord zone. In many cases, minor chords can be triggered using only two fingers (e.g., hitting the root and the minor).
On the other hand, arranger keyboards pose a problem when a player wants to intermix single-finger chord triggering and base notes in the chord zone. Typically, the musician must resort to turning single-finger chords off (if this is possible) and playing three-note chords. A similar problem exists when the player wants to play intervals in the chord zone without triggering a chord change. Modern chord recognition schemes have various ways of dealing with these limitations, but all make assumptions concerning what the musician xe2x80x9cprobablyxe2x80x9d wants to do. When the assumption is wrong, the results are typically undesirable. In addition, there are times when most players want to play without auto-accompanimentxe2x80x94but, then, the missing (88-61=) 27 keys often make a difference. Furthermore, while 61-keys makes for a smaller form factor than 88-keys, it is still larger than desired for portability.
Array keyboards provide a large number of keys in a relatively compact arrangment. For example, all the notes in a piano and then some can be represented in a 12xe2x80x3xc3x978xe2x80x3 array of 1xe2x80x3 inch square keys. Obviously, this addresses issues of portability, but there is a challenge to arrange the keys for optimal playability. For example, if each row of the array is a separate octave, so that each column contains octave transpositions for a given note, (e.g., Axe2x88x924, Axe2x88x923, Axe2x88x922, Axe2x88x921, A0, A+1, A+2, and A+3) certain familiar note combinations can be difficult to finger.
The Z-Board available from Starr Labs (www.starrlabs.com) arranges array rows in fourths, in a manner similar to convention guitar tuning (which uses four fourths and one major third). In fact, Starr Laboratories also advertises a G-Board that uses standard guitar tuning. Conveniently, common guitar-like fingerings are possible. However, this 12-row by 23-column array does not extend over the entire conventional piano range. While it can be retuned to allow a wider range of pitches, the convenient and familiar 4ths fingerings are sacrificed in the process.
Starr Labs also discloses xe2x80x9cWilson Generalized Keyboardsxe2x80x9d for microtuning applications. One board is a 90xc3x978 array of hexagonal keys, while a smaller version sports 48xc3x976 keys. A tuning for conventional western tonalities is not disclosed at the website. These keyboards are not compact, with the smaller being comparable to a piano in keyboard length.
There are also some array keyboards systems that depart from the convention relationship between space and pitch that typifies most keyboards. The Chordboard CX10 (www.) offers easy chord selection and transposition from one key to another. While the Chordboard seems well suited for arranger-style (chord and melody) playing, it does not seem well suited for more free-form styles. In a sense, the chord emphasis becomes as much a limitation as it is an aid. The Chordboard is about 1.25 meters (49xe2x80x3) long, about the same as a five-octave keyboard.
The xe2x80x9cSamchillian Tip Tip Chereexe2x80x9d relatistic keyboard provides a large melodic given the number of keys used. However, it is not well suited for pieces that would normally require two hands to be played on a piano. Both the Chordboard and the Relativistic keyboard impose a learning curve as they weaken the intuitive relationship between space and pitch.
What is needed is a compact musical-instrument controller that provides for a full-piano note range, and provide convenient fingering of common chords, intervals, and single notes throughout the note range.
The present invention provides for an array of note triggers that define triads at (at least some) points where three or more note triggers converge. The triads each include a major third interval and a minor third interval; both major and minor triads are provided for. For example, if note triggers that are assigned notes C, E, and G, respectively converge, they define a C major triad at the convergence point. Preferably, one note trigger will converge in a major triad at one convergence point and in a minor triad at another convergence point. Where four or more note triggers converge, more than one triad can be formed at that convergence point. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a triad can be triggered at a convergence point. Furthermore, third and fifth intervals can be triggered at an extended boundary. The invention provides for rows or columns of note triggers arranged in fifths so that a row or column covers an entire circle of fifths.
By placing note triggers collectively defining thirds and fifths near each other, the invention makes it convenient to trigger these common note combinations. However, the invention further provides for triggering the boundary segments and vertices for single-finger triggering of useful intervals and chords. This maximizes the convenience of playing thirds, fifths, and major and minor chords without depriving the player of access to the individual notes that make up these note combinations. For example, a player can trigger a vertex to play a triad (e.g., C-E-G) and trigger a key to trigger a single note (e.g., Bb) to trigger a four-note chord (e.g., C7). In contrast, conventional arranger keyboards typically impose a choice between single-finger chords and individual access to the notes that make up these chords.
In a more specific aspect, the invention provides a hexagonal array of hexagonal note triggers. In a hexagonal array, successive rows are staggered and successive columns are staggered. In the inventive hexagonal array, consecutive note triggers in a row are adjacent and form fifths intervals; while consecutive note triggers in a column are not adjacent (in the note array) and form chromatic (semi-tone) intervals. Accordingly, there are diagonally adjacent pairs of note triggers with one from each of two consecutive rows. In this case, diagonally adjacent pairs form third intervals. Thus a given note trigger can define fifths above and below in the same row, major third above and a major third below notes in the row above, and a minor third above and a minor third below notes in the row below. For example, a hexagonal C note trigger can be adjacent to and collectively surrounded by: E, G, Eb, Ab, F, and A.
In this specific aspect, a chromatic progression proceeds up each column, spanning a third and then wrapping to the next column. The columns alternate between spanning minor thirds and major seconds (whole-tone intervals); there is also an additional semi-tone interval involved in each wrap. In accordance with a more specific aspect of the invention, additional rows can be added to duplicate notes near the top or bottom of the array to provide alternative fingerings for certain note combinations.
In another aspect, the invention provides a rectangular array in which columns and rows are not staggered. Columns progress in fifths, while rows progress in interleaved thirds (A-C-A#-C#-B-D). In this array, four keys meet at a vertex to define Major M7 chords (e.g., C-E-G-B) and minor m7 chords (e.g., C-Eb-G-Bb). The invention alternatively provides for interpreting vertex triggers as four-note chords or as the base triads (e.g., C-E-G and C-Eb-B). Other embodiments of the invention provide for other types of arrays and other trigger geometries.
The present invention further provides for continuous controllers in the array area. Continuous motion from one trigger to the next does not activate the second trigger, but is interpreted as a control change for some parameter associated with the first trigger. For a two-dimensional array, this control can have two dimensions in the plane (or surface) of the array. To avoid limitations associated with notes near array boundaries, monotonic control changes can proceed as a motion caroms off an array perimeter. The availability of continuous motion control can apply to all or just some of the note triggers, interval triggers, and chord triggers.
The invention provides for a keyboard that is more compact than a piano or piano-style keyboard with the same note range. A full 88-key range is achieved with less than a half the length of a piano-style keyboard with full-size keys. This not only makes the present keyboard more portable, but makes it possible to finger note combinations that are not feasible using a typical piano keyboard. An average-sized hand can readily span two octaves, whereas one octave is typical with a piano. The invention makes it easier to play simple passages as intervals, and chords can be triggered with one finger. In addition, complex passages are also facilitated since, while one finger is triggering a combination of notes, the other fingers of a hand are available to play other notes. For example, some six-note chords can be played with two fingers.
The invention provides additional advantages over an arranger-style keyboard when it comes to triggering patterns based on chord recognition. The present invention allows both major and minor chords to be played with one finger, whereas a typical arranger only allows major chords to be triggered with one finger. Furthermore, the present invention allows single bass notes and chords to be intermixed freely, whereas a typical arranger keyboard does one or the other, but not both concurrently in the same zone. Finally, the invention allows for interval triggering, e.g., a single-finger C-E interval, whereas arranger keyboards do not permit this.
When compared with array keyboards, the present invention provides a large pitch range without excessive redundancy. For example, in the Starr Laboratories Z board, 276 keys cover fewer than 88 notes. The Z board can be returned to cover a wider range, but then fingering becomes problematic. In addition, prior-art keyboards do not provide integrated (without special programming) triggering of intervals and notes. When compared with the Chord Board and the Relativistic keyboard, the present invention provides a full pitch range and easy chord triggering without deviating from the intuitive relationship between pitch and space. The power and flexibility of the invention are further enhanced using associated skid, slide, strum, and pad controls, as is apparent from the description below with reference to the following drawings.